There’s an intentional darkness that lingers over Trace Adkins‘ new single ‘Watch the World End,’ a duet with pop singer Colbie Caillat. It’s an effective love song that also succeeds in painting a vivid picture of the apocalypse.

The ballad is both heartwarming and terrifying. Tempo, arrangement and performance all add to the details Adkins describes with each verse.

“I had a bad dream last night / The whole world was ending / Right before my eyes / There were fires and there were floods / And everyone was running out of time / Made me wonder what I’d do if we really came to the end of the line,” he sings during the first verse.

The second verse might be the more effective of the two, however: “I’d lay down in a field by your side / And watch every star falling out of the sky / And I’d steal a kiss from your sweet lips one last time / And I wouldn’t be afraid as long as your hand was in mine.”

If the manly Trace Adkins is one handhold away from being terrified, what does that say for the rest of us?

Colbie Caillat is underused on ‘Watch the World End.’ She provides barely more than backing vocals and a few accents between the closing choruses. More of her sweetness could take some edge off of the story, but it’s not a given that would make it a better song. Adkins has such an original voice it’s difficult to stir in another without disturbing the original taste.

“I don’t think I’d spend my last hours at an altar / Or somewhere making toasts to good ol’ days / The more I think about it all I’d really want to do / Is watch the world end with you,” Adkins and Caillat sing during the chorus.

Great country songs can wreck your emotions, and ‘Watch the World End’ does that. It plays as equally on fear as it does true love, though, making it difficult to listen to repeatedly. Not everyone will have that problem, but enough will to keep it from being one of Adkins’ all-time greatest hits.

Listen to Trace Adkins (Feat. Colbie Caillat), ‘Watch the World End,’

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